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SUNY Downstate Scholar Wins Young Scientist Honor:

Nov 20, 2008

Dr. Andrey Pisarev Receives Blavatnik Award

 

Brooklyn, NY - Andrey Pisarev, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, has received a 2008 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists from the New York Academy of Sciences. The awards recognize the most promising young scientists and engineers in the tri-state area.

Dr. Pisarev was nominated in the postdoctoral category for his research in cell and molecular biology and was one of five faculty and postdoctoral winners out of 16 finalists.  The awards, each carrying an unrestricted cash prize of $15,000 for the winning postdoctoral fellows and $25,000 for the winning faculty, were presented at the Academy's 5th annual Science & the City Gala on Nov. 17. The audience included six Nobel Prize winners, heads of major research institutions, and leaders from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

At SUNY Downstate, Dr Pisarev has been working in the laboratory of Dr. Tatyana Pestova. In his experiments, Dr. Pisarev uses 15 different individually purified and characterized proteins from cell lysates to reconstitute the process of translation in vitro. He explains: “This approach allows us to study the mechanism of the process step-by-step and to generate more profound explanations of the roles of different components in the process.”

His work has revealed the mechanisms of the last two stages of translation—termination and ribosomal recycling—that has filled a 30-year-old gap in the scientific community’s understanding of protein synthesis in the human cell. He says this new knowledge “should ultimately aid in the development of medicines that target genetic diseases associated with the formation of short protein forms.”

Recently, Dr. Pisarev’s research yielded the discovery of the protein Helicase DHX29, which participates in the synthesis of oncogenes and growth factors. He plans to continue studying this protein, believing it may lead to a cure for cancer.

The seven finalists in the postdoctoral category included fellows from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Rockefeller University, and Yale. Fifty-three distinguished scientists served as judges.

 

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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.

UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.